


It's Time to Get Things Started

by fennecfawkes



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/F, Get Together, M/M, Post-Movie(s), Road Trips, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-13 12:25:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5708050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fennecfawkes/pseuds/fennecfawkes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rey is straightforward where Finn is not, and shore leave has its perks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Time to Get Things Started

“How well does Finn understand human emotions?” Rey asks Jessika one day. It’s been nearly a year since the attack on Starkiller Base, and since then, Rey’s made a habit of helping Jessika—whenever she and Skywalker make their way back to D’Qar, that is—with repairs and upgrades to her fighter. (“It’s no Black One,” Jessika says of the X-wing the first day she shows Rey the ropes. “It’s never going to be. But it’s mine.”) This visit’s a short one, but they’re making the most of it, and Jessika thanks whatever higher power exists yet again that Rey was so damn forward about her interest upon their first meeting.

“Well, he’s human, so probably pretty well,” says Jessika, who’s crouching down, polishing her astromech droid. “I don’t know. You know him better than I do. Why are you asking, anyway? Is this a Dameron thing?”

“Of course it’s a Dameron thing,” Rey says. She’s peering over Jessika’s shoulder, just close enough that Jessika can nearly taste Rey’s scent—greenery, mostly, with a flowery hint Rey swears isn’t synthetic. “Finn told me they have dinner together every night when Poe’s on base.”

“And?”

“And Poe cooks for him. Now, you’ve known Poe longer than—”

“Poe Dameron doesn’t cook for himself,” says Jessika. “Let alone anyone else. What he’s coming up with can’t taste very good.”

“Apparently Finn finds it quite pleasing.”

“Finn would find anything Dameron produced pleasing,” Jessika says. “Wrench?”

Rey hands it to her. “I may have implied as much,” she says. “But Finn didn’t seem to understand what I was saying. He’s just worried that Poe’s going to go on a mission again and he won’t be able to eat the Yavin 4 delicacies to which he’s grown accustomed.”

“I’m sure that’s exactly how he put it.”

“Shut it,” says Rey, and Jessika laughs, getting to her feet and knocking her shoulder against Rey’s. “Anyway, I’m hoping that before you all go to Akiva, one or the other makes some sort of forward progress.”

“I’ve heard Finn’s healing pretty well.”

“You know what I mean.” Rey slips her arm around Jessika’s waist and nudges her forward. “I told Finn we’d meet them for dinner. Poe’s cooking. I wrangled us an invitation.”

“Wait, what? Did you use some sort of Jedi mind trick to get him to do that?”

“If I had, I wouldn’t tell you.” Rey punctuates her statement with a pinch of Jessika’s waist. Jessika lets out an undignified squeal, and Rey can’t contain her laughter all the way to Dameron’s quarters.

.:.

In a pre-Finn era, Poe didn’t cook dinner for his dates. If anything, they cooked it for him; not that he asked, but people—especially people who wanted to push things forward—liked doing things for him. He’d accepted that long ago, and he usually tries not to abuse that privilege. He certainly hasn’t been with Finn, who’s attempted to give him back his jacket more than once and balked when Poe offered the extra bed in his quarters till Finn got set up somewhere more permanent. (Turns out that still hasn’t happened; Finn likes having a roommate, and Finn seems to prefer Poe’s company to the company of most others, though from how friendly he is to everyone, you’d never know it.) Finn never asks for anything, so Poe gives him everything. Apparently, according to Snap, the only married man Poe thinks of as a good friend, that’s how truly caring about someone’s supposed to work. It’s a daunting concept, but Poe’s coming to accept that what he feels for Finn—it’s different from past relationships, from the girls with crushes and the guys with good intentions and long-term plans. Finn probably doesn’t know that yet, and he probably should. Poe’ll get there. Eventually.

“What’d you say this is?” Jessika asks. “It’s delicious.”

“It’s kind of a variation on _caldo de gallina_ ,” says Poe. “My mother’s old recipe. Had to make do with the local wildlife, but the taste isn’t too different.”

“She’s right, though, it’s really good,” Finn says, and Poe tries not to grin too much. Rey’s been fixing him with knowing looks through the whole meal, so he’s attempting to rein it in (and failing pretty miserably).

“You say that about everything I cook.”

Finn shrugs. “Can’t deny the truth.”

“Says the man who lied about being part of the Resistance,” says Rey.

“Hey, that wasn’t a lie! I was well on my way. Call it a pre-truth.”

“Yeah, that’s not a thing,” Jessika says. “Not that we’re not happy you’re here now. We are. As long as you’re not planning on snaking my spot in Blue Squadron.”

“Not my intent, no,” says Finn. “I still don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing. Six different people have tried to recruit me to join whatever mission they’re going on.”

“Six?” Poe looks up at Finn. “I thought you said five.”

“Admiral Ackbar has something going on Mon Cala,” Finn says. “He said he’d be approaching you, too. But you’re due on Yavin 4 next week, right?”

“Yeah. About that.” Poe clears his throat, and Rey, seeming to take that as a cue, stands up.

“We should go,” she says to Jessika. “I told Asty we’d play chess tonight, and you’d take winner.”

“I look forward to playing against Asty, then,” says Jessika. “Given that chess is the only thing you don’t excel at.” Jessika smiles at Poe. “Thanks for dinner, Dameron. Seems like you’re good for more than just flying.”

“Much appreciated, Pava,” says Poe, and she and Rey leave without another word. Rey nods to Finn before she goes, her expression inscrutable.

“You were saying?” Finn asks. “About Yavin 4?”

“I know you have a lot of offers on the table,” says Poe. He’s nervous, which is a strange and foreign feeling; butterflies in the stomach aren’t something he knows well. “But if you’re interested in some shore leave, that’s really what my trip to Yavin 4 is about, and I’d be happy if you joined me.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

Finn smiles, and it’s not the typical bright, broad grin; it’s something shyer, hesitant, even.

“That sounds great,” he says, and he ducks his head, and Poe knows he’s not going to make it to the end of this trip without kissing those upturned lips.

.:.

“They’re taking a vacation together,” Jessika says. “A _vacation_. We haven’t even done that.”

“I can show you Jakku, if you want,” says Rey as she pulls on her bedclothes. “It’s not much to look at, but I did live there, so I imagine that would be very romantic.”

“You have a rich imagination,” Jessika says as Rey climbs into bed and raises an eyebrow. Jessika sighs—exaggerated, deep—and gathers Rey in her arms, kissing her. “Anyway. That’s progress, right? That means they’ll stop doing the thing they’re doing?”

“I don’t think Finn realizes they’re doing a thing,” says Rey. “He talks about Poe nonstop, but it’s never about his interest or Poe’s interest in him. Sometimes it’s about Poe’s hair.”

“Sounds like interest to me,” Jessika says. “Roll over.”

“Bossy,” says Rey, but she complies, turning in Jessika’s arms so her back is against Jessika’s chest. “He’s mentioned your hair once or twice, too. He wants to know how it’s so shiny.”

“It’s not that shiny. But you can tell him I get product imported from Dandoran.”

“You’re joking.”

Jessika doesn’t say anything.

“You’re not joking!”

“Look, not everyone’s hair is as naturally bouncy and flawless as yours.” Jessika temporarily lets go of Rey’s waist to tug at her hair. Rey reaches to grab Jessika’s hand, entwining their fingers.

“I’d like your hair no matter how flat and lifeless it was,” Rey whispers.

“You are such a little shit.”

“I know. But I’m _your_ little shit.”

“Fair enough,” says Jessika. “Can we sleep now? I’m already going to be dreaming about Finn and Dameron, and I’d rather get that over with.”

“Thanks a lot,” Rey says, snuggling as close as she can to Jessika and closing her eyes. “Now I will be, too.”

“Love you.”

“Love you.”

.:.

“Wow,” says Finn, and Poe can’t help laughing.

“That’s the fourth time you’ve said that, buddy,” Poe says. “Look, I know it’s beautiful. But it can’t be nearly as amazing as you’re making it out to be.”

Finn gestures at the whisper birds overhead. “You know they don’t make them like that on D’Qar, right?”

“Good point.” Poe looks over at Finn, who’s practically spinning on the spot, trying to take it all in. And really, to be fair to Finn, there’s a whole lot there, especially for someone who’s never seen a jungle in person. The last time Poe saw Finn this overwhelmed was—well, the circumstances weren’t quite like this, to be sure. And Poe highly prefers this kind of overwhelmed.

“I can’t believe you got to live here,” says Finn. “Do you still have a home base?”

Poe nods. “Same place I grew up. It’s cozy, but ... it’s home.”

“Can’t be as cozy as our quarters,” Finn says.

“Nope, not quite that level of coziness. Which I was under the impression you were OK with.”

“Of course I’m OK with it,” says Finn. “Who else would I want to live with?”

Poe turns to Finn and smiles. Maybe if he plays this right, he won’t ever have to say anything. Snap says using your words is important when you’re telling someone how you feel, but Poe would rather use his mouth for other purposes right now, purposes that would ultimately serve the same end goal. He’s leaning in a little closer than a friend usually would when a runyip runs across Finn’s feet.

“I’m not going to scream,” Finn says. “But I kind of want to.”

“Save it for when we see something really scary,” says Poe. He looks ahead and sees it—the structure his father built for his mother when they’d first settled on Yavin 4. It looks the same as it did when Poe was eight years old, stealing his mother’s helmet and running around the forest with his arms outstretched like wings. He points.

“That’s it,” he says to Finn. “Ready to see me get sentimental?”

“Couldn’t be readier,” says Finn.

.:.

“You should leave less often,” Jessika suggests as she watches Rey pack up what few things she brings with her when she and Skywalker go ... wherever it is they go to train. “Or stay longer when you come back.”

“You know I’d like for you to come with me, right?” Rey puts down the tunic she’s folding and crosses the room to pull Jessika’s hands into hers. “I’ve talked to him about it. He knows you’re a skilled pilot and that you’d be helpful if anything ever went wrong. But he also believes you might be a distraction.”

“I’d do my best to be one,” says Jessika. “I’m being pathetic, aren’t I?”

“Only a little,” Rey says. “It shouldn’t be long this time. I think he’s getting weary, and I know I’m getting stronger.”

“That I know firsthand.” Jessika drops Rey’s hands and puts a hand on either side of Rey’s waist. “I’ll try to keep busy when you’re gone.”

“Do so,” says Rey. “But not too busy. I’ve seen how C-3PO looks at you.”

“That’s horrifying. Please never say that again.”

“I make no promises.” Rey kisses her, closed-mouthed and sweet. “I’ll see you at dinner. I need to finish packing.”

“Fine, fine,” says Jessika, and she’s about to leave when Rey says, “Oh, wait! Finn sent me a holo.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes. He loves Yavin 4. He looked happier than I’ve ever seen him. So relaxed.”

“And Poe...?”

“I don’t think they’re together yet,” Rey says. “But he was in the background, still looking at Finn like he saved the galaxy. Which I suppose he did, to some extent.”

“Not as much as you did.”

“Call it a draw,” says Rey, kissing Jessika again. “Now go! You’ve got a droid to tune up or something!”

Jessika scoffs and shakes her head but complies nonetheless.

.:.

“You know, I’m starting to think fighting the First Order is overrated,” says Finn.

“That, or shore leave is underrated,” Poe says. This particular massassi tree was his favorite to climb when he was a kid, and it’s doing an admirable job of bearing his and Finn’s weight now. Poe didn’t purposely stop their climb in a place where their limbs would have to linger close together, knees brushing, Poe’s arm draped loosely across Finn’s back, but if that’s how it turned out, well, he’s not going to complain.

“First Order doesn’t really understand the concept of taking breaks,” says Finn. “Yet another way the Resistance is doing things right.” He leans back and, naturally, Poe’s arm isn’t so loosely draped anymore. But Finn doesn’t say anything, not even when Poe experimentally kneads his thumb into Finn’s shoulder. Actually, Finn does say something then, if “Mmm” counts as something.

“You shouldn’t have any knots at all anymore, buddy,” Poe says. “We’ve been here a week.”

“Has it really been that long? And we haven’t been called back for some X-wing- or sanitation-related emergency?”

“Yeah, it has. You know we’re leaving tomorrow, right?”

Finn sighs and shifts position so he’s leaning back against Poe’s chest.

“We don’t have to talk about that right now, do we?”

“We don’t have to talk about anything if you don’t want to.”

Finn chuckles. The butterflies, which have been working overtime, smack their way around Poe’s insides. He really ought to do something about those.

“Not even how very OK I am with you draped around me like a blanket?”

“Hm?” Poe looks down and wonders when his arms ended up around Finn’s waist, where Finn’s hands cover his. “Oh. Huh. We maybe should talk about that.”

“Wexley said it was a big deal, you bringing me here,” says Finn, craning his neck to look at Poe, whose heart is beating in triple time. “Gave me this talk about how I better not break his boss. I told him I didn’t know what he was talking about.” Finn smiles sheepishly. “I lie sometimes, though.”

Poe groans and leans his head back against the tree trunk. “How long were you going to let me wonder if you wanted this? Any of this?”

“Depends what ‘this’ is,” says Finn. He’s pulled away just enough to look at Poe and not risk the integrity of his neck to do so. “Wexley said you don’t really do the dating or courtship thing. So if this is just—if you just want sex or something, then I’m not sure we’re right for each other.”

“It’s—no. It’s not about that, Finn.” Poe pauses. “I mean, it’s a little bit about that, because yeah, you’re—well, look at you, do you ever look at yourself?”

“On occasion,” says Finn, and he’s smirking, but it’s not in an unkind way. “So it’s a little bit about sex, then. You know I haven’t, right?”

“I’d guessed that. Please tell me you’ve kissed before, because if I’m you’re first kiss and you’re not mine—”

“I’ve done that,” says Finn, rolling his eyes. “There wasn’t surveillance _everywhere_. But no one was every any good. Heard you might have some experience in that department.”

“A bit, yeah,” Poe says. “So, yeah, a little bit about that. But also about—it’s you, OK? It’s just you. You’ve always been so good and so genuine and so passionate. You’re the best guy I know.”

“What a coincidence. You’re the best guy I know, too.”

“Yeah?”

Finn leans closer. “Yeah. So you want to do this, then?”

“Depends what ‘this’ is,” Poe says with a smirk.

Finn shakes his head and brushes his lips against Poe’s. If physical contact can be electrifying, then that—the softness, the innocence interrupted by the fire just beneath the surface—is exactly what this is. “Some people call it courtship. I know Jess and Rey call it dating. I don’t really care what you want to call it, so long as it’s something.”

“Oh, it’s something,” says Poe. “You can call yourself my boyfriend. I’m just going to say we’re together. We have been for a while, anyway. May as well make it official.”

“May as well,” Finn agrees. He leans in again, and this time it’s not just a peck; this time there’s tongues and teeth and Poe unable to do much other than gasp into Finn’s mouth and do his best to reciprocate. Apparently his best is good enough, because soon they’re both breathless and scrabbling for purchase, hands on each other’s faces and shoulders and waists. The branch they’ve been relying so heavily on begins to shake, and they separate just enough to laugh and start the climb back down.

“Bed’s probably more comfortable anyway,” says Poe, and Finn rolls his eyes, but soon he’s dragging Poe in that direction, Poe holding on tight as he can.

.:.

“We’ve got to get significant others that stick around once in a while,” Jessika sighs to Finn. “This is good, by the way. What is this?”

“ _Chiles rellenos_ ,” says Finn. They’re eating dinner in his quarters, where he finds himself spending a number of evenings with Jessika when Rey and Poe are away, playing chess and working their way through Asty’s collection of holovids. “Poe brought back the ingredients from Yavin 4. I don’t think it was entirely legal. Speaking of which, that hair product is incredible.”

“Isn’t it?” Jessika reaches across the table and runs her hand through Finn’s hair. “Oh, it feels even better on you than it does on me. It’s nice to have someone to commiserate about less-than-perfect hair with.”

“Poe’s hair is genuinely perfect,” says Finn. “Even when he wakes up in the morning. Even after sex.”

“And I’m sure you try to mess it up.”

“Of course. What fun is there in not trying to mess it up?” Finn grins and takes a bite. “This still isn’t as good as if he’d made it. But I think even he would call it acceptable.”

“Probably give you an orgasm for your efforts.”

“Do you talk like this around Rey?”

“Of course. How do you think I got her to go out with me?”

“Excuse you,” says Finn. “From what I’ve heard, she asked first.”

“Of course she did,” Jessika says. “But she’s not here, so I’m going to take all the credit.”

Asty knocks on the open door. “Your boy’s home,” he says to Finn. “And your girl, too,” he adds, looking at Jessika.

“Never call her that to her face, OK?” Jessika’s stood up by the time she finishes her sentence. Finn’s already out the door, yelling “Thanks!” over his shoulder to Asty. Jessika reaches the hangar about twenty seconds after Finn. She can tell because it takes a pilot about that long to hop out of an X-wing and find their footing on the ground, and Poe’s already been pulled into Finn’s arms. It’s been a couple weeks, so Jessika decides she can forgive them for the borderline lewdness of their kiss. This time.

Someone taps Jessika on the shoulder. She turns around, and there’s Rey, who pecks her on the cheek and gives her a quick one-armed hug. Rey’s not much for PDA, which is convenient, since Jessika isn’t a fan, either.

“Welcome back,” says Jessika. “Finn made dinner.”

“I’m not hungry,” Rey says, taking Jessika by the hand. “Your quarters, milady?”

“I don’t have anywhere else to be,” says Jessika, waving to an unseeing Finn and Poe as she and Rey head back to the other side of the base.


End file.
